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BACPS | Newsletter |
| Summer 2009 |
| Next Meeting: Saturday, November 21, 2009 | Meeting Minutes | Davis Trip | BACPS Forum | My LACPS Visit |
| Treasurer's Report | |
| Upcoming Events | |
Together for the first time: authors |
by Geoff Wong
Location: University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley
Program: "South African Summertime Sabbatical" by Ernesto Sandoval
Time: Noon-4:00 p.m.
The next BACPS meeting will feature Ernesto Sandoval, who will show slides from a recent
botanical trip to South Africa. We will see stunning scenery, habitats, and plants, including
examples from the fynbos, a remarkable ecosystem unique to South Africa. Ernesto will share
observations and insights into various plant habitats, which will help growers cultivate
plants more successfully at home.
Ernesto is Director of the Conservatory at the University of California at Davis. He grew up in Los Angeles and started his career with his father's "Mow, Blow and Go" landscaping business. By chance, at one point along the way he found himself on a tour of the UC Davis Botanical Garden. This experience turned out to be a life-changing event that opened his eyes to opportunities in a much bigger botanical/horticultural world. As they say, the rest is history. Ernesto's passions are desert plants and photography. His enthusiasm spreads to many other plant groups, and he considers himself a botanical "Jose-of-all-trades." Ernesto heads out to the field at every opportunity to find inspiration and ideas for gardens and how to grow the plants in cultivation.
Please bring plants for the show and tell table. For this meeting, plants native to South Africa are especially encouraged. Donations are gratefully appreciated for the raffle and auction, which are our major fundraisers. Members are also welcome to bring plants to sell or auction. FYI, Ernesto plans to bring many special things from UC Davis for the sale, including Cephalotus, Nepenthes, Sarracenia, Drosera, and Pinguicula, as well as other CP and non-CP.
In addition to the usual 10% of plant sales that BACPS collects for our fundraising, an additional 10% will be collected as a fundraiser for the UC Botanical Garden. We recently learned of University policies regarding sales unless they are part of a fundraising activity. Also, as many of you know, the Garden can really use the additional support in light of the current University budget crisis.
Attendees are asked to bring a snack or drink to share. As a token of our appreciation, donors will receive a free raffle ticket.
For directions to the Botanical Garden, visit the website at botanicalgarden.berkeley.edu.
by Judith Finn
Date: July 17, 2009
Location: California Carnivores, Sebastopol
Host: Peter D'Amato
Attendance: 50-70
Total membership of BACPS: 667
Peter's nursery looked fabulous even on a hot summer day. People brought great goodies to the potluck, including some remarkably decorated cookies. Bill Weaver began by thanking Doris for all the prep work for the Annual Show, and Peter said he would host author Stewart McPherson when he visited the S.F. Bay Area in August.
Five people gave presentations on their CP terrarium/fish tanks. (Forgive me if some of the lighting information is not quite accurate.)
Michael Drabinsky, our Raffle Manager and student extraordinaire, was the first speaker. He has spent more than 10 years growing lowland plants. He grows them in a 60-gallon fish tank (4' long, 2' wide, 2'6" wide) with 3 inches of water at the base which, together with a heater, achieves 80% humidity and a tropical temperature. He tops off the container with four 48-inch T light bulbs and an acrylic panel for a cover. He situates the tank in a south-facing window. Some of the plants he is now growing are Nepenthes ampullaria and bicalcarata), woolly Drosera from Australia, and Drosera falconeri. You can find out more by going to his website: www.droseramichael.com.
Patrick Collingsworth spoke next with 20 years of experience growing
carnivorous plants. He emphasized various lighting. He has two high-output (54-watt) T 5 bulbs
which are very bright. The fixture costs about $259 and contains two, four, and six
bulbs. The sundews and Sarracenia need the most light with six bulbs. He
raises the Nepenthes under four bulbs. He has 18" high-pressure sodium bulbs.
He prefers GE bulbs that last three years as opposed to the Chinese-produced
bulbs that last one year. They cost $7 online and twice that at
hydroponic stores. On the floor of his terrarium he has a heating pad
that raises the temperature 15 degrees. He places a piece of cardboard
under the pad to insulate it. Patrick also says that he grows some very
large Nepenthes in his living room with four hours of good light.
Gerry Brown has an 80-gallon tank which is outfitted with a pumping system
that recirculates the water. To lift the plants above the waterline, he
places plastic egg crating on the bottom of the tank and covers it with window
screening and a layer of moss. For illumination he uses 32-watt bulbs and
two 40-watt bulbs. He covers the top of the tank with glass to raise the
humidity. He suggests that it is a good idea to have a drain at the bottom
of the tank to facilitate cleaning.
Max Schaefer's philosophy is to keep things simple. He achieves this by purchasing 7'-10' wire racks at Costco, fluorescent tubes at $1.99 each, and a $10.00 light fixture. He grows hybrids that don't need to be placed in terrariums. The air flow keeps the plants from getting fungal problems. He places the fluorescent lights close to his seed trays. He hangs T 5 on the ceiling and places Mylar sheets on the walls of his basement to reflect the light. He emphasized applying Maxsea fertilizer at the regular strength every 4-6 weeks and then, on the next watering cycle, watering well with distilled or reverse osmosis water to encourage pitchering.
Drew Martinez brought in the most high-tech-looking terrarium. It boasted
a New Wave T 5 Sunsystem, two small fans, and a swamp cooler. One end of the
tank had a pad which was kept wet by a recirculating water system. The air
is drawn in because on the opposite side there are two small fans pulling the
air through. This evaporative cooler drops the temperature 5-10 degrees.
He placed a rack on the floor of the tank and wrapped the sealed tank with
Mylar to double the light.
Apalachicola hybrids, Sarracenia oreophila, Nepenthes × leesii, N. mirabilis.
Nepenthes densiflora, N. truncata, Utricularia reniformis 'Giant Triffid Park,' three Drosera spatulata, Sarracenia 'Tarnok,' S. × 'Domas Delight', small Sarracenia hybrids.
Patrick Collingsworth displayed the following: Sarracenia × 'Abandoned Hope' Nepenthes boschiana, N. (thorelii × aristo.) × truncata, N. khasiana × 'predator,' N. copelandii, N. ventricosa hybrid and lowii hybrid, Disa Kew form.
Date: August 23, 2009From noon until about 3:00 people got to meet the prolific young writer and photographer who was visiting the S.F. Bay Area for only two days. People lined up to buy his books, especially his new two-volume hardback edition on Nepenthes, Pitcher Plants of the Old World, and to get his autograph. Stewart then treated us to a wonderful lecture on the Nepenthes of the Philippines, New Guinea, Sulawesi, and Borneo. Because of the ambient light in the greenhouse, the photos were difficult to see, but Stewart enthralled his audience with his speaking ability and his vast knowledge. He treated us to photos of new and rarely seen Nepenthes taken in situ. He informed us that his next book will emphasize the habitats in which the different CPs grow so that the reader will be more informed on the natural growing conditions in the wild.
The following is a list of the Nepenthes from each location and some brief comments.
Most of the specimens are from the South Island. Stewart feels that there
are probably many new species yet to be discovered in some of the remote
areas of the country.
New Guinea contains 200 high peaks, yet very few contain Nepenthes. This may
be due to seasonal dry periods.
This island contains the most Nepenthes species. Stewart showed us just a
few.
After the presentation, in a round of questioning, Stewart stated that there are fewer and less diverse Nepenthes in Sulawesi and New Guinea, and that there are many new species to be discovered in Palawan Mindanao region of the Philippines. He feels lowland species are more tolerant to fire than highland Nepenthes because of decades-old mature specimens that he has found in the higher elevations. About the origins of Nepenthes, he stated that from new DNA research it appears that Nepenthes were first established before the breakup of Gondwana in Madagascar, Africa, India, Sri Lanka, and Seychelles. There has also been Nepenthes pollen discovered in Europe originating 186 million years ago.
For everyone reading this awesome list of unusual Nepenthes and wishing they could have attended this talk (or taken better notes), reading Stewart's two-volume book, which includes all the above and more, is a must.
by Jennifer Siders
On June 27, Charlie and I went on the guided field trip to the Butterfly Valley Botanical Area. The trip was lead by Barry Rice, Ellen Dean, and Beth Salvia. We left UC Davis a little after 7 am and carpooled up to the area around Quincy, CA. The first stop was to see the California Lady Slipper and Stream Orchid. We then stopped to see Tiger Lilies. But the highlight for Charlie was of course when we stopped next to the field of Darlingtonia. Charlie's "Wow!" and "Whoa!" could be heard clearly by everyone. He was amazed to see the Drosera rotundifolia all around -- we had thought they would be more difficult to spot.
Barry Rice asked everyone to be on the lookout for non-native sundews that people transplant to the area (three plants were found and removed). Charlie was thrilled to see carnivorous plants "in the wild" and even learned a bit about other plants, though they definitely didn't impress him as much as the Darlingtonia. This was a great field trip, and we'll be keeping our eyes out for future trips with this group.
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by Greg Foust
I'm writing this article to bring some much needed light to the BACPS forum. Being a new CP grower (two years) I have found the Internet to be a great tool to get information on all carnivorous plants. What I didn't expect were the many CP communities I would find online. I have made many friends and have traded with people across the Bay Area and even across the country. You can plan to meet at a BACPS meeting and trade or mail your plant. Next to the BACPS's raffles and auctions, trading online has been my largest supply of plants. Some people give plants, seeds, and leaf pulls for just postage!
I use two primary forums for this: one is Terraforums.com, and the other, of course, is the BACPS forum. Terraforums.com is a great example of what I would like the BACPS forum to become some day. There are many active members and a ton of grower-supplied information, with trades happening daily. There are also many online CP communities across the world. A few I frequent are cpukforum.com, pitcherplants.com (since I'm a Nepenthes nut!), and the ICPS forum. Some of these have area-specific forums just for people in the US. This enables you to trade and communicate with local growers. You must be very careful with these sites as there are strict regulations with shipping across country. Please read and know all rules to every forum also, as they all vary.
Forums are not only good for trades and information, but with the BACPS forum all the local growers can gather together and make plans. You can even arrange group rides to meetings. One thing I am trying to make happen is an annual BACPS members' international order from Wistuba, using the BACPS forum to coordinate this.
I'm surprised the BACPS forum is not utilized more by members, volunteers, and club officers. The forum is a great resource to help all those involved in BACPS to come together, collaborate, and grow. Officers would be able to find more help with the club. In order to make that effective, more members need to join and become active on the BACPS forum. In fact, a post from an officer prompted me to write this article.
I urge you to check out these forums I have recommended and join the BACPS forum. My name is Frilleon on all forums -- stop by and say hello!
by Tony Gridley
I showed up for the October 17 meeting of the Los Angeles Carnivorous Plant
Society and had a truly great time. My only regret was in casually mentioning
how easy it is to grow Darlingtonia
where I live. The LACPS members apparently can't just put their cobra plants
out on the fire escape and pour some tap
water on them every so often like I do but need some kind of complicated
apparatus and/or daily intervention, so this was rude of me. Also, I should
have brought some plants, which I'll certainly do if I go to another meeting.
Oh, and I would have liked one of their totally excellent t-shirts, but they're all gone.
Most of the meetings of the LACPS take place in the conference room of the Alhambra Chamber of Commerce, which has a long table on which plants and refreshments can be placed. Two meetings a year are held elsewhere -- at the Huntington Botanical Gardens, which seems to have several greenhouses not otherwise open to the public, and at Cal State Fullerton, with its famous collection of CP. The LACPS doesn't have a bunch of officers, or a show, or meeting minutes to put into a newsletter, or newsletter, actually, or raffles, or auctions, or really any reason to raise money, except that everyone has to pony up three bucks for the use of the room. They do, however, have a seed bank, which is pretty cool.
After hanging out for an hour or so to trade plants and look at stuff, there was a short meeting, during which I was introduced to the group by Ivan Snyder. Then there was an interesting program about a trip to Venezuela, although nobody who went on the trip was actually present in Alhambra. The text of the program was by Darren "Spot" Cullen, and the quality of the photos was amazing.
I understand that their meetings usually last a matter of seconds after a
program ends, but I was invited to go out to lunch with several LACPS members.
As soon as we arrived at the restaurant,
I put in my lunch order and started reading another version of the Venezuela program that was brought
along to the restaurant in case someone was interested.....
What's usually missing for me in the accounts of carnivorous plant trips is the matter of logistics. That is, if I am to go someday, what would I actually need to bring, what things would I need to acquire (helicopter? guides?), how does it all work, exactly.....
When I surfaced from my reading, the lunch conversation was quickly shifting from how big a container one needs for growing Aldrovanda, to what would happen to electrons if a nuclear explosion took place high up over the United States, to the ingredients of a particular kind of Japanese soda, to the odds of finding true love at a carnivorous plant meeting (I would think the odds are just about zero, but apparently people have indeed found their soulmates at the LACPS). Items were being passed around -- a binary watch was going one direction, and some kind of puzzle with a marble in the middle was going the other way.
At this point, I started to entertain a thought that I know to be
contrary to everything I've always been taught as a native San Franciscan.
Heretical, ghastly, traitorous, foolish, unpatriotic -- yes, perhaps -- but here it is:
It is just possible that folks in the Los Angeles area are more geeky than we are.
This impression did not subside after lunch when in the parking lot the conversation topics continued to morph into spelunking and the use of computer algorithms to measure dangerous substances from a safe distance. Fortunately for me -- just as I reached the exact moment at which I had to choose between (a) desperately trying to fake my end of the conversation and (b) taking my chances by exhibiting my complete and utter ignorance of these matters -- we were motioned to the other end of the parking lot, where Ivan was about to start a fire with some small sticks that he carries around with him (see photo) due to his interest in ethnobotany. And lo, in less than five seconds there was fire.
Somehow I found this all very comforting. Not the fire per se, but some really smart people indulging their curiosity -- over a wide range, and just for fun -- with a group of other really smart people. What is it about this hobby anyway?
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by Joe Mazrimas
| BACPS TREASURY REPORT July 18, 2009 | |||
| ASSETS | DEBT | BALANCE | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auction | $200.00 | ||
| Raffle | $95.00 | ||
| Show Refund | $375.00 | TOTAL | $670.00 |
| Soda/water | $10.00 | ||
| Auction | $80.00 | ||
| TOTAL | $90.00 | ||
| Current balance (7-18-09) | $580.00 | ||
| Previous balance (6-20-09) | $5016.72 | ||
| TOTAL | $5596.72 |
November 21, 2009: Fall BACPS meeting,
University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley.
January 9, 2010: Winter Meeting. Ron Parsons: CP of Mexico,
Australia, and Beyond.
University of California Botanical Garden, Berkeley.
July 31, 2010: Summer Meeting,
California Carnivores: Potluck, Larry Mellichamp.
[Other meeting dates/programs have not yet been finalized -- stay tuned!]
Ernesto Sandoval photo -- Ernesto Sandoval; Davis trip photos -- Jennifer Siders; California Carnivores and LACPS photos -- Tony Gridley
The BACPS Newsletter is a quarterly publication produced by the Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Society. Please send newsletter submissions to Tony Gridley (tgridley@comcast.net). For more information on membership, subscriptions, or events, please visit our website: www.bacps.org.